From "Nnamba" to "Santanto Kolong:" Women Farmers Wait for Tractors That Never Came
Stretching from "Nnamba", "Santanto Kolong" to "Kanyang", Salikenni Women Farmers, sat under the shade of trees, staring at vast, fertile Hectares of land, awaiting to be plough as the rainy season begins in the Gambia.
The women farmers of Badibu Salikenni in the North Bank Region of the Gambia were speaking to us in an interview on Saturda 20th July, 2024, dressed in their local attire with a wooden traditional hoe, a bowl filled with rice seedling, a ten litre water bottle at hand, ready to welcome the rains with pride and waiting patiently for Tractors that may never come.
They wake up at dawn, prepare breakfast for the family and then find their way to the Farmlands of “Nnamba”, “Santanto Kolong”, and “Kanyang” among other Farmlands, kilometres away from home, tilling vast hectares of land with long-handle hoes and a single tractors that holds the hopes of hundreds of women for rice cultivation.
The women hold bowls full of rice seedlings with their left hand and use their right hand to spread them across the vast Farmlands, and when they are done, they use the long-handled traditionally made hoes to plough the Farmlands to mix the seedlings with the soil.
Fatou Touray is one of the women we met at the “Nnamba” Farmlands preparing a medium bed of Rice Seedlings using the traditional long-handled hoes to plough it, which is later transplanted in a bigger Farmland.
Mrs Touray, a middle-aged woman in her late 40s, said they have a vast Farmland waiting to be ploughed, but there is nothing they can do due to a shortage of tractors. She said for them to do their work effectively and achieve a bumper harvest at the end of the Rainy season, they need more tractors, fertilizers and enough seedlings.
She said they will also need power tillers to help make their work easier. “We all want tractors to plough our farms at the same time but this is not possible due to the shortage of tractors,” she said. She pleaded with the Government of the Gambia and NGOs to come to their aid as soon as possible.
The women of Salikenni work on hundreds of hectares of Rice fields during rainy seasons. Rice is a cash crop and a staple food for households and families in the Gambia. When cooked, Rice can be served with local dishes such as fish or chicken stew, peanut “domoda” stew, “Soupou Kanja”, “Mbahal”, “bena chin” (Jollof Rice), porridge etc.
While the urban dwellers depended on imported Rice, the rural dwellers enjoyed rice they cultivated on their farmlands. When they have enough to eat with their families, they sell some of their produce to take care of the bills of the household, including school fees and stationery for their kids, among other things.
At the “Santanto Kolong and Kanyang” Farmlands, Manjai Jaiteh, a women leader coordinating the women taking part in the Resilience of Organization for Transformative Smallholder Agriculture Project ROOTS, said the women were given a tractor through the ROOTS project which enables the women to pay 20% while the project takes care of 80%. She said each woman paid D1000 and the package included fertilisers, rice seedlings and a tractor to plough the person’s farmland.
She said the agreement is that the project will plough 750 hectares of land, which is just the tip of the iceberg compared to the vast areas of land they had and wanted to farm on this season.
She added that all the women in Salikenni placed their hopes on the tractor from the ROOTS project which is not enough for them.
She, therefore, called on the Government and partners to help them with more tractors, fertilizers and seedlings. She said if they have three or more tractors, they will be able to feed not only their families and the village but the entire Gambia as well.
Terema Jaiteh, a middle-aged woman in her late 50s, said she started Farming in her teens, helping her parents on the Farm. She said she has been farming for 40 years. “I have seedlings from home, and we were also given seedlings, but there are no tractors to plough our lands. We come to the farms every day and use our hands and our long-handle hoes to do the little we can while waiting for the tractor to reach our Farmlands,” she said.
She said the roads to the Farmlands are in good condition. She said it is raining as it should, and they have water in their farmlands, but their only headache is a shortage of tractors, fertilizers and seedlings. She said they need help with farming tools to ease their work.
According to the women, there are Farmlands they abandoned because when they cultivate on those lands, the pigs invade the lands and destroy their crops. These Farmlands are located kilometres away from their homes but that does not stop the women from walking the distance, bending under the scorching sun or with clothes soaked under the heavy downpour of rain to make sure that their families’ food basket is filled at the end of the Farming Season.
Since the schools are closed for the summer Holidays, the children who are in their teens tag along to help out on the Farm using the traditionally made shorthanded hoes to plough the farmlands or do babysitting duties for breastfeeding mothers.
Aside from the Farming activities going on, the solemn voices of women and the chirping of the early morning birds, one could not help but admire the greenery nature of the Farmlands and the fresh breeze mixed with the smell of nature.
They wake up at dawn, prepare breakfast for the family and then find their way to the Farmlands of “Nnamba”, “Santanto Kolong”, and “Kanyang” among other Farmlands, kilometres away from home, tilling vast hectares of land with long-handle hoes and a single tractors that holds the hopes of hundreds of women for rice cultivation.
The women hold bowls full of rice seedlings with their left hand and use their right hand to spread them across the vast Farmlands, and when they are done, they use the long-handled traditionally made hoes to plough the Farmlands to mix the seedlings with the soil.
Fatou Touray is one of the women we met at the “Nnamba” Farmlands preparing a medium bed of Rice Seedlings using the traditional long-handled hoes to plough it, which is later transplanted in a bigger Farmland.
Mrs Touray, a middle-aged woman in her late 40s, said they have a vast Farmland waiting to be ploughed, but there is nothing they can do due to a shortage of tractors. She said for them to do their work effectively and achieve a bumper harvest at the end of the Rainy season, they need more tractors, fertilizers and enough seedlings.
She said they will also need power tillers to help make their work easier. “We all want tractors to plough our farms at the same time but this is not possible due to the shortage of tractors,” she said. She pleaded with the Government of the Gambia and NGOs to come to their aid as soon as possible.
The women of Salikenni work on hundreds of hectares of Rice fields during rainy seasons. Rice is a cash crop and a staple food for households and families in the Gambia. When cooked, Rice can be served with local dishes such as fish or chicken stew, peanut “domoda” stew, “Soupou Kanja”, “Mbahal”, “bena chin” (Jollof Rice), porridge etc.
While the urban dwellers depended on imported Rice, the rural dwellers enjoyed rice they cultivated on their farmlands. When they have enough to eat with their families, they sell some of their produce to take care of the bills of the household, including school fees and stationery for their kids, among other things.
For these women, the absence of tractors is more than a convenience. It is a barrier to food security, income, and survival in a region where Agriculture is life itself.
At the “Santanto Kolong and Kanyang” Farmlands, Manjai Jaiteh, a women leader coordinating the women taking part in the Resilience of Organization for Transformative Smallholder Agriculture Project ROOTS, said the women were given a tractor through the ROOTS project which enables the women to pay 20% while the project takes care of 80%. She said each woman paid D1000 and the package included fertilisers, rice seedlings and a tractor to plough the person’s farmland.
She said the agreement is that the project will plough 750 hectares of land, which is just the tip of the iceberg compared to the vast areas of land they had and wanted to farm on this season.
She added that all the women in Salikenni placed their hopes on the tractor from the ROOTS project which is not enough for them.
She, therefore, called on the Government and partners to help them with more tractors, fertilizers and seedlings. She said if they have three or more tractors, they will be able to feed not only their families and the village but the entire Gambia as well.
Terema Jaiteh, a middle-aged woman in her late 50s, said she started Farming in her teens, helping her parents on the Farm. She said she has been farming for 40 years. “I have seedlings from home, and we were also given seedlings, but there are no tractors to plough our lands. We come to the farms every day and use our hands and our long-handle hoes to do the little we can while waiting for the tractor to reach our Farmlands,” she said.
She said the roads to the Farmlands are in good condition. She said it is raining as it should, and they have water in their farmlands, but their only headache is a shortage of tractors, fertilizers and seedlings. She said they need help with farming tools to ease their work.
According to the women, there are Farmlands they abandoned because when they cultivate on those lands, the pigs invade the lands and destroy their crops. These Farmlands are located kilometres away from their homes but that does not stop the women from walking the distance, bending under the scorching sun or with clothes soaked under the heavy downpour of rain to make sure that their families’ food basket is filled at the end of the Farming Season.
Since the schools are closed for the summer Holidays, the children who are in their teens tag along to help out on the Farm using the traditionally made shorthanded hoes to plough the farmlands or do babysitting duties for breastfeeding mothers.
Aside from the Farming activities going on, the solemn voices of women and the chirping of the early morning birds, one could not help but admire the greenery nature of the Farmlands and the fresh breeze mixed with the smell of nature.
Author: Halimatou Ceesay
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